The Seahawks are coming off a big win with strong performances from offense,defense, as well as special team. They are going to need to repeat that model if they hope to win Thursday,Seattle's defense is becoming one of the most feared in the league, from the trenches to the backfield the Seahawks are confident that they can match up with anyone.

It all starts up front in Stopping Frank Gore, the work-horse of the niners backfield has looked good over-all this season, But the Seahawks run defense has looked better. Rookie Bobby Wagner has been looking like a huge upgrade at the MLB position they past few weeks and he will get his chances to show that he indeed is against frank gore. His speed and ability to track down runners in the backfield is something we were missing last year, and will be on display for sure on Thursday. If they can bottle up frank gore and force the niners to put the game in Alex Smiths hands the Seahawks chances of winning greatly increase. The Seahawks need to get to Alex early and often,the Seahawks only sack came in the fourth quarter last week, we need to get it going early and get in his head, he is not the most poised QB when pressured and is prone to following mistakes with more mistakes. Enter the Seahawks secondary. Richard Sherman is ON FIRE and is still getting more looks from opposing QB's then Browner, look for him to capitalize if smith tries to pick on him, With SS Kam Chancellor possibly slowed by injuries the Seahawks will probably rotate him outwith Jeron Johnson a bit more then usual, JJ needs to be on his game this week and not let receivers get behind him, specifically in the red zone as he seems to show a lack of awareness in this area.

On the other side of the ball we have Russell Wilson coming off a career came and Marshawn Lynch coming off his worst of the season, Though Marshawn is not to blame as he only received 16 carries as the Seahawks gave RW a little more slack on his leash. I expect to see more of lynch this week. The niners run defense is good but Ahmad Bradshaw showed that they can be beaten last week. Expect to see Darell Bevell give the niners a health dose of Beast Mode, opening up the niners defense for Wilson, who's deep passing skills are better then anyone thought they were. now while the deep ball is fun to watch it's not always going to work. The niners have more speed in there back field then the pats do. Russell Wilsons short to intermediate passing skills will need to improve, he needs to trust his reads and get rid of the ball, no double clutching.

The Seahawks are coming off a big win with strong performances from offense,defense, as well as special team. They are going to need to repeat that model if they hope to win Thursday,Seattle's defense is becoming one of the most feared in the league, from the trenches to the backfield the Seahawks are confident that they can match up with anyone.

It all starts up front in Stopping Frank Gore, the work-horse of the niners backfield has looked good over-all this season, But the Seahawks run defense has looked better. Rookie Bobby Wagner has been looking like a huge upgrade at the MLB position they past few weeks and he will get his chances to show that he indeed is against frank gore. His speed and ability to track down runners in the backfield is something we were missing last year, and will be on display for sure on Thursday. If they can bottle up frank gore and force the niners to put the game in Alex Smiths hands the Seahawks chances of winning greatly increase. The Seahawks need to get to Alex early and often,the Seahawks only sack came in the fourth quarter last week, we need to get it going early and get in his head, he is not the most poised QB when pressured and is prone to following mistakes with more mistakes. Enter the Seahawks secondary. Richard Sherman is ON FIRE and is still getting more looks from opposing QB's then Browner, look for him to capitalize if smith tries to pick on him, With SS Kam Chancellor possibly slowed by injuries the Seahawks will probably rotate him outwith Jeron Johnson a bit more then usual, JJ needs to be on his game this week and not let receivers get behind him, specifically in the red zone as he seems to show a lack of awareness in this area.

On the other side of the ball we have Russell Wilson coming off a career came and Marshawn Lynch coming off his worst of the season, Though Marshawn is not to blame as he only received 16 carries as the Seahawks gave RW a little more slack on his leash. I expect to see more of lynch this week. The niners run defense is good but Ahmad Bradshaw showed that they can be beaten last week. Expect to see Darell Bevell give the niners a health dose of Beast Mode, opening up the niners defense for Wilson, who's deep passing skills are better then anyone thought they were. now while the deep ball is fun to watch it's not always going to work. The niners have more speed in there back field then the pats do. Russell Wilsons short to intermediate passing skills will need to improve, he needs to trust his reads and get rid of the ball, no double clutching.

A concern that I have (a few actually, but this concern drives me NUTS) is if Breno can behave himself all game and not have any more huge plays being brought back due to some boneheaded penalty. He has the ability to kill drives and momentum with stupid play at the most inconvenient times.

Of course pressuring Alex Smith will be critical, but just as critical will be containing him within the pocket. He burned us repeatedly last season in both games when he broke contain and ran for big yardage downfield. Clemons, Red, and Irvin will need to be extra disciplined in not allowing him to break out of the pocket.

Our safeties will be severely tested this week against Vernon Davis and Delani Walker. I'm extremely concerned that Kam has a bad ankle and won't be able to keep up with Davis. He has already been struggling against elite TE's this season so he and Earl (as well as Johnson) will need to step up big.

I am not worried about SF's wideouts. Sherm and Browner should be effective in keeping them in check, though Manningham could be one to possibly break a big one.

Our offense will struggle tomorrow for sure. I expect a ton of punts and FG's. My expectations for Wilson are not so much big plays down the field but how efficient he is on third down conversions. I expect to see a lot of third and 4's and 5's where Russell will need to force precise throws into small windows to move the sticks. I hope that all the wideouts, including Braylon, step up particularly in these situations and can make some crucial plays.

SF ran 2 punt returns for TD's last season in SF so our special teams really needs to button it down tomorrow and play solid coverage.

My guess is that this game will be decided on a critical late turnover. Odds are definitely against the Hawks tomorrow. Logic says that SF is coming off a humiliating loss and will want to prove everyone wrong that they have weakened. I also believe that Harbaugh has not lost 2 games in a row yet as head coach of SF.

kmedic wrote:... I also believe that Harbaugh has not lost 2 games in a row yet as head coach of SF.

I am also nervous about the game tomorrow, although I do like our chances if we minimize the mistakes. I truly hope our Hawks can pull off the upset because the record above is just begging to be broken and we need it to be us that does it...